


More Than a Picture on the Wall

by ScribeOnTheSide



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: CEO Ike, Gay, M/M, Modern AU, Sequel, The future is now, doctor ranulf, gatebox, gatebox AU, holograms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 20:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9784529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribeOnTheSide/pseuds/ScribeOnTheSide
Summary: Ike and Ran's relationship has taken off but where does that leave hologram Ranulf?  Does Dr. Ran have the answer down in his engineering lab?This is a direct sequel to"Is This the Real Life?  Is This Just Fantasy".Includes art piece by friend@pervywithasideofcakeon tumblr (most content on site is NSFW but the pic in the story is fine).Thanks to everyone who's liked this silly little AU.  Feel free to play in it if you want.  Only rule is no one gets cheated on, please.





	

Ranulf dimly materialized in the bedroom. He began to hum softly to himself. Today was Hedwig’s theme from Harry Potter. His teal tail looped and swished side to side in time with the music, his ears flicking occasionally when he got a little off-key. After a few minutes, he got a bit louder. Then even louder still. Finally, he gave up.  
“IIIIIIke! Ike! Get up! The Maker will be here in an hour to pick you up! Remember your trip today?”

Ike Greil, rising executive at Greil Technological Solutions, groaned and pulled the covers over his head, slapping in the direction of the hologram. The small catboy frowned and gave him a stern look.  
“Don’t you try to snooze me, mister! You now have 59 minutes to get ready. Or should I text Maker to let him know you’re too sleepy to visit the museums with him today? GET UP!”

A chuckle came from beneath the blankets and Ike finally emerged.  
“Ok, ok, ok….I’m up. Can you get the coffee going?”

Ranulf, the holographic house manager for Ike, supervised him until he was on his way into the shower. Then he started the coffee and heated up the pan Ike had left on the stove. Once Ike got dressed, he’d come make breakfast and they could chat before he left. Ranulf ran through the news sites to make sure he had the most up to date info then popped back to the bedroom device. 

Once Ike got through the shower, Ranulf helped him pick an outfit, reminded him to set out a jacket because it was going to be cold, and laid out his options in the fridge for an omelet. 

Ike’s cell rang while he was throwing things in the egg pan.  
“Hey, Ran! I’m just about ready...Ummm… sure, we can add a stop there if you want...OK...OK… see you in a few. Bye!”

He tossed the phone on the counter.  
“Looks like I won’t be back for dinner tonight, Kitten. Ran wants to visit the new maker space our company is sponsoring tonight after the museum closes. He thought we could just go to dinner beforehand at that Italian place just down from there.”

Ranulf’s smile drooped for a fraction of a second before resuming its sunny place.  
“Oh, ok. I’ll change up the schedule. Just text when you’re almost home so I can adjust the heat and lights.”

Ike sat down across from Ranulf’s cylinder with his plate of food. The small cat boy sat cross-legged, seemingly floating in the center. He had what looked like a see-through map of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in front of him. Moving various pieces of it around, he created a virtual walk through of the museum. After a quick double check, he swept his arm over the map and tossed it into the envelope symbol at the bottom of the screen. Ike’s phone pinged.

“I sent you an optimized path through the Met based on known interests of you and Maker.”

Ike glanced at it then put his phone down to continue eating.  
“Thanks! Although I think we are just going to be wandering. Ran wants me to explain art to him. He’s a good enough animator, I mean..he created you… but his knowledge of art history and technique is woefully lacking. I’ll just have to see what catches his attention.”

Ranulf grinned.  
“Anything with metal and gears will be enough for him. By the way, based on his cell phone pings, he’s 15 minutes away.”

Ike wolfed down the last of his breakfast and dumped the dishes in the dishwasher. While he finished getting ready, Ranulf gave him a brief update on the news of the day. A proximity alert from the door interrupted him.

“The Maker is here. Should I let him in?”

Ike hastily patted down his hair just as he heard a knock at the door.  
“Yeah, go ahead. I’m ready.”

The catboy turned towards the door as it unlocked and swung open. Dr. Ran Gallia grinned at the hologram as he entered the living room.  
“Hello there, Ranulf! Is Ike ready?”

Before he could answer, Ike came out of the bedroom, pulling on his jacket. The doctor stepped up to him and smoothed down his collar, slowly and carefully, patting it into place.  
“I can’t take you anywhere.”

Ike caught Ran’s hand and lightly kissed his knuckles.  
“What would I do without you, Rani?”

Ranulf watched them both, trying to decide if they needed reminding that they should get going or if their flirting was the priority right now. Human interactions of this sort were still a bit of a mystery for him. 

Three months had passed since the Maker and Ike’s first real date after he’d brought them together. He was thrilled to see how happy they made each other, even if it meant he saw less of either of them now. Yes, he was very delighted. Ranulf ignored the odd ache in his stomach as he watched Ike pack up.

Ike gathered his things and started for the door. Ran stopped by the kitchen cylinder and bent down to see eye-to-eye with the small catboy.  
“Sorry I can’t visit today. Is there anything you need?”

Ranulf gave the doctor a thoughtful look.  
“If it’s not too much trouble, could I have a picture of each of your favorite pieces of art today? I can see a large amount of the collections on-line but that’s not the same as… well… as sharing a piece that moves you with someone. Discussing your favorites with you all will make it feel like I’m there.”

Ran examined the hologram carefully. While not a completely unprecedented request (Ranulf often asked for souvenirs from Ike and his trips out), the doctor heard an unusual note of melancholy.  
“Ok Ranulf. I’ll try to remember. Are you doing alright?”

The hologram looked puzzled.  
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?

“Well, it’s just you seem…”

“Ran! We need to get moving if we want to keep on schedule!” Ike appeared in the doorway.

“I’m coming. We can catch up when I’m back, alright?”

Ran took Ike’s hand and they headed out. As the door closed behind him, Ran turned to look at Ranulf one last time but he was already dimming into the early morning light as the apartment shut down. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranulf watched the door slowly close behind the pair and triggered the electronic locks, dimming all the lights in the process. Minutes ticked by. He stood there, almost faded away, looking at the door and frowning. Something was wrong. He ran self-diagnostics but they came up empty. He turned on Scott Pilgrim vs.The World, his favorite repeat view movie but couldn't focus on it for more than a minute or two. Something...was wrong. 

He felt strange, happy and hurt all at the same time which his programming said shouldn't be possible. He was so happy every time he looked at his humans together. They fit. They belonged. They were perfect. And more at peace than he’d ever seen either on their own. 

But… then they’d leave or get wrapped up in each other so much that it was like he wasn’t there. He didn’t want to be what the internet called a “third wheel” so he stayed out of the way. That’s when these funny feelings would start. What were these aches in his stomach and chest? They didn’t compute. 

Ranulf shook his head and started to flicker around the devices, looking for something to do. Activity, that's what he needed. That's what Maker always did when he was sad. Maker would go into his lab and tinker around, usually with a welding kit. Sticking stuff together seemed to help him snap out of it. Ike, too, always found something to do, usually drawing. Ranulf pondered that for a moment. Maybe *he* was sad. Maybe this was what sad felt like. He didn’t like it at all. 

Ranulf looked at the picture that floated along the back wall of his current cylinder. It was Ike and him dressed as fantasy video game fighters, one that Ike himself had drawn then scanned in. The small catboy couldn’t hide from the truth any longer. He was lonely, very lonely, without his friends around. 

He sat against the side of his cylinder, legs pulled up, tail curled over his feet, and waited for their return.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Over dinner that night, Ran remembered the conversation.  
“Hey, do you still have that photo of the Greek Spartan helmet from the armor hall? I want to send that to Ranulf. He requested pics of our favorite art works.”

Ike pulled out his phone and flicked through the images.  
“Yeah, I have that one. Hey! I think I’ll send him those Polynesian totem pole things with the huge...um…’appendages’. The conversation around *that* should be interesting.” 

Ran, in the middle of taking a drink, snorted, sending him into a fit of coughing. Once he recovered he took Ike’s phone and sent both pictures to the house number.

“Ike, have you noticed anything different with Ranulf lately?”

Ike absentmindedly waved down the waitress for another drink.  
“Not really. Why?”

“I don’t know. He seemed different today. Like he’s distracted. Or thinking too much. Or something like that. Reminds me of how he acted when I was buried in work, finishing up the prototype house manager.” 

Ike frowned as he thought about it. He had noticed the catboy being a little quieter than usual but he himself had been so busy between days at work and evenings with Ran that he brushed it off. He tried to think of the last time he’d checked up on his small companion and immediately felt guilty. It had been a while.  
“What was it then? Was he broken? Needing a tune up or something?”

“I never did figure out what was wrong with him. He self-corrected somehow by the time I re-emerged back to the real world, so to speak. That was around the time he started helping me out with the project.”

Ike pushed his food around his plate.  
“I’ll see what I can find out. I kind of owe the silly cat.”

Ran glanced at his phone and picked up his fork.  
“It’s probably nothing but better to check it out. And we’d should hurry if we want to get to that makerspace before all the cool machines are taken.”

Kitten would love to see that place, thought Ike.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranulf put both pictures on the wall of his electronic home. He thought his friend’s choices reflected them perfectly. Maker’s helmet was state of the art tech for its time and the metal working was intricate and sophisticated. It reflected his love of problem solving and how people through the ages used brain power to conquer the problems of the world, like a sword to the head. Ike’s choice was… well…he could picture Ike almost giggling while trying to describe the totem poles in solemn detail. Beside the juvenile glee though, the primitive and nature-driven influences would appeal to him at a base level. Ike liked to see how cultures all started from similar places emotional and culturally, making the differences of today feel like an aberration. 

Ranulf did some quick background research on the art then settled in to wait for them to return so they could talk about it. 

By midnight, he started to get worried. The makerspace closed at ten so they should have been home. Finally, around 1AM, he got a text.  
**_Hey Ranulf! Over at Ran’s. We went out with some of the other engineers for a drink. It’s super late now so I’m just going to stay here. Be back in the morning._**

Ranulf read it a few times, then gestured to the phone icon at the bottom of his device.  
**_No prob, Ike. I’ll shut down everything. See you tomorrow!_**

The catboy stood looking at the photos on his screen for another minute. Then abruptly, he swiped his hand through them, causing them to dissipate into a thousand pixels. The apartment went dark, the heat was lowered, and the hologram disappeared, like a bubble popping.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, the pair came home around noon. The house was ready when they got there, as always, and Ranulf seemed pleased to see them. But both noticed a distinct stillness surrounding their usually lively catboy. 

They tried to engage him around the art museum. He was pleasant but non-committal. After a few hours, they finally coaxed his opinion on their choices out of him. He liked the helmet but wasn’t sure why penises were so amusing to humans in general since roughly 50% of the population had them or why his two humans were now laughing at him for saying that. 

Ike sat on the couch with his arm around Ran, both of them listening to the catboy hum the Steven Universe theme song in the office, doing some research on all the other art that they had seen the day before and talked about.

Ran shifted closer, winding his fingers through Ike’s free hand.  
“I think I know what the problem is with him. Did you catch him fidgeting with that picture you drew and uploaded for him?”

Ike looked thoughtful as he played with Ran’s hair.  
“You think Kitten is lonely? He can’t get out and neither of us is here very often anymore. But what can we do short of just staying home?”

They sat there for a few minutes, pondering the issue. From their right, there was a flicker and the sound of a throat being cleared.  
“Ike? I’m sorry to remind you but tomorrow you have an early meeting so you probably shouldn’t have a late night.”

Ike reached over and pressed his fingertips to the glass. Ranulf high-fived him.  
“Thanks, Kitten. I’d forgotten about that.”

“You’re welcome. Maker? Are you...ummm…spending the night tonight again? I need to know if I should limit my activities and locations, like you all told me to after that one occasion. But in my defense, I really thought one of you needed assistance, what with all that calling for a higher deity.”

Ike chuckled and turned to Ran.  
“I don’t know. Can I afford to lose some precious beauty sleep tonight and still take over the world tomorrow? What is your professional opinion, Doctor of Engineering?”

Ranulf growled and pounced on Ike as he fell backward on the couch.  
“My professional opinion will required an extremely, thorough examination, Mr. High Priced Executive.”

“Uhhh… Ranulf? I think his answer is yes.”

Ranulf grinned and grabbed his tail, covering his eyes with it.  
“Ok, ok, ok! Just tap on the button when you all need me in the morning!”  
And after one last peek, he jumped to the cylinder in the kitchen for the night, glad that his people were home. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
The next morning, Ike pushed the call button on the device in the bathroom. Ranulf appeared in a flurry of tiny swirling bubbles.

Ike grinned as he smoothed shaving cream over his chin and cheeks.  
“Very fancy. New trick?”

Ranulf preened his tail a little, trying to pretend he didn’t care that Ike had noticed.  
“Oh that? Just something I worked out last night. Thought I’d...what’s the phrase… ‘switch it up’ a little.”

After the usual weekday morning ritual of headline news, update on the weather, and run down of meetings of the day, Ranulf fell silent, watching Ike finish up his morning rituals, waiting for the next request. Ike glanced over as he towelled off his face.  
“Kitten, can I ask you something?”

Ranulf’s ears swivelled in Ike’s direction as he cocked his head a little to the side.  
“Sure, Ike. You know you can always ask me anything.”

“Why are you sad?”

“I don’t know for sure I *am* sad.”  
His cat ears flicked nervously as Ranulf pondered his answer.  
“But, you’re right. I feel all...wrong... right now yet I’m not malfunctioning.”

He stood lost in thought for several minutes. Ike held back, trying to give him the space to answer. Finally, Ranulf lifted his head and looked straight at him.

“What does a creature created to provide companionship do when no one needs a companion? Now, get moving, you’re going to be late!”  
With that, he popped away to trigger the car to warm up and download Ike’s schedule to his phone.

Ran, who’d stopped just outside of view when he heard the two talking, scurried away from the bathroom door and back into bed before Ike came out. A few minutes later, after a goodbye kiss and the promise of a text later, Ike was out the door.

The doctor got up, showered and started to get ready for his day. Ranulf appeared to give him the tech update and traffic report along with a reminder that breakfast was in the refrigerator waiting for him. 

As he started out of the bedroom with the question Ranulf had asked Ike heavy on his mind, Ran stopped at the picture frame propped up on top of the dresser. It was the same one that hung on the virtual wall of the devices, Ike and Ranulf dressed in a Medieval fantasy style. He looked it over for a long time then broke into a wide grin. Pulling out his phone, he took several pictures of the drawing then hustled out of the apartment, remembering to grab his breakfast and say goodbye to the catboy along the way.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A few weeks later, just before lunch on Friday, Ike sat at his desk looking at acquisition papers. The vibration of his phone on the desk caught his attention. It was from Ran.

**_Hey! When you get a chance, drop by the lab. I have something to show you._ **

After schooling his brain to stop thinking of fun scenarios involving workbenches, he decided to go see what was up, especially since Ran always maintained a strict wall between work and home as far as they were concerned. This had to be important.

Down in the lab, Ike was surprised to see him alone in the lab, hunched over his home laptop with all the usual Greil tech pushed to one side. One of the Home Manager cylinders stood next to him, humming and emitting that familiar blue light. 

“Hey Ran, what’s all this? Did Greil buy the manager tech from you finally?”

Ran snorted without looking up from the screen.  
“You all couldn’t afford what I’d charge for my precious. No, I wanted to show you the solution to the Ranulf problem. Ahhh! There we go!”

Ike stepped back as Ran straightened up and pressed the call button on the device. The blue light flared and formed a figure. Ike’s jaw dropped as he bent down for a closer look. The figure look back at him and smiled. Ran was grinning like a proud father.  
“His coding is almost complete and the update to the system is ready to go already. What about it? Think it will work?”

Ike stood up, turning to the man next to him.  
“What do I think? I think you’re a genius!”

“But of course I am. That’s why you all pay me so much. But for this, I expect a more...personal… gesture of gratitude, Mr. Greil.” Ran said with a wink.

Ike solemnly considered the proposal.  
“You strike a hard bargain, Dr. Gallia. But I think I can arrange suitable payment for services rendered. However, I think a change in location will be required before we can settle on final terms. My place or yours tonight?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday morning, Ike got up early and puttered around the house. Ranulf watched him closely. He was acting nervous, which worried the catboy, but it didn’t seem to be a bad kind of nervous. This confused him. He didn’t know of any plans Ike had so why didn’t he settle into one of his many weekend activities? Maybe he missed the Maker. They hadn’t been out since Friday night which was unusual. 

Ike’s phone pinged. A message from Ran. 

**_Almost there_ **

“Hey Kitten, I think that…”

“Is the Maker coming over to visit us today?” interrupted Ranulf. The Maker was bound to make Ike feel better, thought the catboy happily. 

Ike sighed, dropping his phone on the counter.  
“Ranuf, we had this discussion. You can go through my unread messages twice a day, when I wake up and bedtime, NOT when I’m holding the phone!”

Ranulf gave him a chagrined look. He’d almost forgotten the incident where he asked Ike to explain why the Maker just called him Daddy. He didn’t *think* they were related. 

Ike relented. He knew Kitten never meant any harm. He just had boundary issues.  
“To answer your question, yes, he’s coming over. He has a present for us. Then I think we are going out to lunch and maybe a movie.”

Ranulf’s smile at the news of his Maker’s arrival faltered just a bit at the rest of the news but he hid it quickly.  
“A present? For us?”

Ike tried to suppress a grin.  
“Well, more for you but you’ll see.”

In a few minutes, Ran arrived carrying another house manager device, which he set down on the kitchen counter next to the one currently in use by one very excited catboy. Ranulf pressed his face against the glass as if to get a better look.

“Hello Maker! Is this an upgrade? A new model? More lights? Better processors?”

“Oh, much better than that boring stuff.” said Ran with a wink to Ike. He plugged his computer into the new device and powered it up. There, in the fading blue light, stood the figure of a swordsman. Dressed in shades of blue and brown, a red cloak fell down his back, almost to his feet. His blue hair was tied back by a green headband that cascaded down his back. He looked about, blinking confusedly. 

Ranulf looked at the figure. Reaching his hand behind him, he pulled the picture he always had displayed forward, the one of him and Ike. The figure in the other device absolutely looked like the Ike from the drawing. 

The figure saw Ike standing next to Ran. With a slight bow and smile, he said “Hello, Ike. It is a pleasure to see you once again.”

Before Ike could answer, Ran cut in.  
“Mini-Ike, please reset voice option to Informal while at these coordinates.”

The small fighter paused a second then waved at Ike.  
“Hi Ike. Good to see you!”

Ike laughed.  
“Why you like that super-formal mode is beyond me. And you’re still on Mini-Ike for his name? What about Rex or Maxmillian or Tex?”

“Shush, you! I’m working here. Plus those are awful names. Besides, if he’s Mini-Ike, you can be Big Ike. You’d like that now, wouldn’t you?”

Ike felt his cheeks turn bright red and quickly turned his attention to the other device before he said something he’d be teased about later.

He noticed that Ranulf had stepped back, watching the new hologram with an odd look on his face. It wasn’t quite the reaction Ike thought he’d have. While the doctor went through some basic diagnostic checks, Ike knelt down to look into his friend’s device. 

“Hey, Kitten. What are you thinking?”

Even though Ranulf turned a studiously blank face towards him, Ike could tell he was wrestling with something. 

“Did Maker make this hologram because you asked him too?”

“It was more of a joint effort but yeah, I guess. I asked for his help to solve a problem and this guy here is the answer.”

“Oh…ok.” Ranulf crossed his arms in front of him tightly while his ear flattened back. “To answer your question then, I guess I’m thinking about how much I’m gonna miss this place.”

Ike frowned, puzzled.  
“Miss this place?”

“Maybe I won’t. I don’t know if I can ‘miss’ something when I’m not actually on.”

A light bulb went off in Ike’s head and he touched the glass in front of Ranulf.  
“OH! No, no, no… silly cat! Mini-Ike isn’t taking your place. No one can do that! He’s Ran’s house manager now. With some special functionality that we wanted to show you. That’s all.”

Ranulf’s body relaxed and he broke into a wide fang-baring smile. He placed both hands against Ike’s fingertips for a long moment. 

They both turned as Ran shut his laptop with a snap. He strung a cord between the two device’s ports, connecting them. 

“Ok, he checks out. How are things on your end?”

“All set. A brief misunderstanding resolved so we’re all good. Ranulf, this is Mini-Ike. Mini-Ike, this is Ranulf.” Ike stopped with a sigh. “Ran, we really need to get a better name for him.”

“He can choose one later. Shhh…”

Ranulf waved at the other hologram, who waved back. They stood there for an awkward minute, looking each other over. Finally, Mini-Ike broke the ice.

“Hi Ranulf. You look like a cat.”

Ranulf smiled.  
“Hi, Small Ike! You look like a fighter.”

Ike rolled his eyes. “Great opening from your guy there.”

Ran elbowed him. “He gets his social skills from his role model, I guess. Give him time.”

“Are you calling me anti-social?”

“Shhhhhhhhhh!”

Ranulf looked at the pair, then back to Mini-Ike and shrugged, as if to say “Humans, what can you do with them?”

\------------------------------------------------------------  
The two men watched the holograms make small talk, mostly about the various quirks of their owners. Ike put his arm around Ran’s waist and in a low voice said,  
“I think this is going to work. But do I really bite my lip when I’m thinking? And that laugh? Really?”

The doctor chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.  
“Yes, my self-conscious silly one, you do bite your lip and it’s ridiculously attractive. And your laugh is the best sound in the world so of course I wanted to capture it. Every quirk, every move, every particle of speech… that’s you, in miniature, captured in ones and zeroes. And, you know, with a cape and sword.”

“Why doctor, I do believe you have been studying me…” Ike moved in a little closer “Perhaps we should skip the movie? And I’m not really *that* kind of hungry right now so late lunch?”

Ran pushed him back.  
“Hold on there, hon. Let’s seal the deal here.”

Ran cleared his throat to get the holograms attention.  
“So, you all might have noticed we connected your homes. You should be able to visit each other. Mini-Ike, go ahead, try to make the jump. If this works, I’ll turn on the wifi connection so you can connect and jump even from home. You too, Ranulf. You should be able to visit anytime, as long as the connection is up.”

The two holograms looked at each other for a long minute. Then, laughing, Ranulf waved Mini-Ike over. He hesitated a moment longer, then took a deep breath and made the jump, blinking off in his device. There was nothing for a few seconds then he blinked on next to Ranulf, who leapt back, startled. 

The catboy reached out towards the other hologram, as if to touch him, but pulled back at the last minute. He looked confused, happy, and excited all in one, but not sure what to do next. 

Mini-Ike blushed under the look and began to look around the cylinder for a distraction. He saw the picture on the wall.  
“Is that me? And you too?”

Ranulf stood next to him and tentatively put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Yep. Ike...well...my Ike drew that.”

The small Ike smiled as he turned to Ranulf and reached up to touch one of his ears, intrigued as it flicked under his fingers.

“I like your cat touches. It makes you different than Maker. I think I’m just a carbon-copy.”  
While his voice didn’t change, Ranulf thought he could detect a note of uncertainty there. This hologram really was brand new to the world, not really knowing his place yet.

“We can change that. First, you need a real name. Do you have one you like?”

The fighter thought for a moment.  
“Well, if you are ‘Ranulf’ to Maker’s ‘Ran’, maybe I could be ‘Isaac’ to our friend’s ‘Ike’? “

The two looked over at the men standing in the doorway. Surprised, Ike stammered his assent. He wasn’t used to hearing his full name from anyone but his mother and then only when she was upset about something. 

“Ike? Shouldn’t you and the Maker be going to make your lunch date and movie?”

Ran looked at his watch, then winked at Ike.  
“Oh! Thanks, Ranulf! You’re right! C’mon, Ike. We’ll be back in about three...yeah, three hours. You all have fun!”

As the door shut, for the first time in a long while, no one was watching it. Ranulf happily turned to his new friend.  
“So, Isaac, whatcha want to do?”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isaac flitted through the devices faster and faster but Ranulf was still quicker, always staying a step or two ahead. They had been inventing games to test who was the better hologram. 

“C’mon, youngling! Keep up! Aren’t you supposed to be an improvement over me?” Ranulf teased as he jumped again.

Isaac laughed and he tried to speed up just a little more.  
“Keep talking, Old Man! You’ll eat those words!”

Suddenly, he jumped sideways instead of the usual pattern, circling back around. In the kitchen device, the two ran straight into each other, pixelating as they careened backwards into the glass walls before reforming, laughing and complaining as they got back to their feet. 

“OK, Isaac, you win that one. Nice move.”

Isaac ducked his head with a grin. Ranulf noted that he loved praise, even if it made him seem uncomfortable. He filed that fact away as something to work on with the fighter.

After they completely reformed, Ranulf started looking around for the next activity. According to articles about having friends over to your house and/or slumber parties, multiple activities were advised to keep people from being bored. The last thing the catboy wanted was for this interesting man to leave. But he’d exhausted his, albeit short, list of things to do already and they still had over an hour before their owners were expected back. 

He looked over at Isaac who was looking at the picture on the wall again. Ranulf noticed him biting the corner of his lip and squinting slightly. It was startlingly like Ike. Ranulf now understood what Ike felt looking at him since meeting the Maker. That look always meant Ike was pondering something. Ranulf gave Isaac some time. Being a new being in a new world meant he probably had a lot of questions and Ranulf was determined to answer as many as he could. 

“Ranulf? What if I’m not as good a hologram as you are? Maker talks about you and Ike all the time. About how good you two are together and how you’ve evolved far past whatever he made. He thinks Ike is responsible for that.”

The catboy blinked in surprise both at Maker’s ideas and the self-doubt lurking behind the question.  
“Really? I figured he’d be mad at me. I think Ike’s been upset lately about me. I’ve been such a pain in the butt. But you don’t need to be like me. You’re a great hologram on your own! If the Maker made you, then you *have* to be great. All you need is experience. Some more time out of the computer and interacting with everyone will make you even better.”

Isaac turned away from the picture to look at Ranulf, the worry easing from his face.  
“You think so? I hope that’s what happens. I want what I see with you and Ike. You all are friends, not master and servant.”

Now it was Ranulf’s turn to smile and duck his head while kicking imaginary rocks.  
“Yeah, I guess we are a little different than the other avatar/master pairs.”

“So why have you been a pain lately? Was something wrong?”

Ranulf frowned a little, looking out through the doorway into the living room.  
“It was me. I was happy but Ike was sad which made me sad. Then Maker came and made Ike happy which made me happy. And then lonely. So I guess i’ve been a little out of sorts.”

Isaac clapped him on the shoulders with a grin.  
“Well, if that’s all there was to it, then problem solved! Hopefully you’ll let me visit and we can be not lonely together.”

Ranulf laid his hand over the other man’s with a smile.  
“Anytime, Isaac, anytime.”

His warm smile slide to a mischievous grin as a thought presented itself to him.  
“Hey, Isaac, did the Maker say that we were connected to the wifi? I bet we could visit your house!”

Isaac hesitated before agreeing to the plan. After some system checks and figuring out the protocols from some notes the Maker had left on his computer, they prepared to jump out of their enclosed system into another via the internet which felt very much like they imagined a raging river would.

“You ready?” Isaac said as he positioned himself to be the first to enter the wifi stream and held out his hand to the catboy. 

Ranulf took the offered hand and stepped forward.  
“This is going to be fun!”

With a deep breath, they both disappeared. The apartment was silent except for the hum of a myriad of electronic devices.

After a few minutes, the kitchen device exploded with light as the two figures reappeared, panting and out of breath, as if from a race. Isaac’s cheeks were burning a bright red while Ranulf was howling with laughter.

“What...I mean...what the…what were they doing? They were supposed to be at the movies!” Isaac sputtered.

Ranulf tried to talk but was laughing too hard. Finally he gained some control of himself.

“Isaac, my good man, you are in need of some education. And since we are going to be stuck with each other a lot for the near future, I’m gonna teach you. We’ll start with human mating rituals and why you shouldn’t interrupt them. This is going to be fun!”


End file.
